2014 Colorado Rally Anyone?

[BA80]

That ain't it Brant!

It's a campground just outside Cannon City, right?

[BA80]

OK.....found it!

http://www.echocanyoncampground.com/

[Bonz]

BA and others, when you get close to the campground you will see a heli pad on the north side of Hwy 50, the campground entrance is basically directly across the road on the south side. Heli pad is easier to see as you come up on the campground vs picking out the campground sign, especially as you come in from the east.

Royal Gorge park itself is still under reconstruction from the fire last summer, so it is not a site to visit this year. Re-opens in August.

[jwhughes3]

Don't keep mentioning heli pad...you may trigger PTSD.

John

[motoman]

That ain't it Brant!

It's a campground just outside Cannon City, right?

Yup.......dats du wan.........least that's where I'm headed anyways.

It'll be all uphill for you gettin' there. If you come across a really l-o-n-g downhill enroute.........you've made a wrong turn

[Bonz]

PTSD, anything we should know...?

[3Phase]

It's not important, Howard, honest -- just smile and wave.

.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Bohn has a BMW.

I'll be the ONLY one in this southern group riding an XS.

And these 2 want to TRAILER them.

Ok... First things first...
If I still owned an XS, I'd be riding it.
BUT, I don't. I have one bike now...2011 C14.
Second, after going through the ordeal in '09 with dropping the oil pump down in the pan on my Maxim, being stranded out on the mountain road 850 miles away from home, thinking that when it fell out it had sheared the teeth off the drive gear behind the clutch with no way to fix it on the side of the road...a truck and trailer makes for a good plan "B" to me.

Plus, you're forgetting something... I've rode on a few trips with ya now...
Crashes have happened. A truck and a trailer is a REAL good thing in that case!

Plus, I ride probably more ATGATT than anybody I know, and going across Kansas in July's not on my favorites list of things to do...
Colorado is always like the reward after the punishment of Kansas to me...lol.

So, don't be giving these new guys that haven't ridden with me the wrong idea, Greg... Don't forget last year when I went to Vegas, Springdale Utah, Bryce, the Escalante... And rode the last 837 miles home in one day...

I have no problem Iron Butting when I need to...
and Connie's no trailer queen...usually. Lol...just will be this time!

Besides, it will help Bohn out having me drive part of the way.
It's a win/win as I see it.

Plus...if your XS breaks down, you got a way to haul her...
(Not that it could EVER happen....)

Hehehe...

[Bonz]

Have you had the Connie in the mountains? The roads we'll be on will be a treat for you with twisties, switchbacks, and a bunch of 35 year old geezer bikes to play with! The GS will be a nice bike for this riding as well. Regardless of what we ride, we can talk about the XS all we want and enjoy its essence.

Motoman, you bringing the old school ST to show us how to go around a corner?

[XJOK2PLAY]

Have you had the Connie in the mountains? The roads we'll be on will be a treat for you with twisties, switchbacks, and a bunch of 35 year old geezer bikes to play with! The GS will be a nice bike for this riding as well. Regardless of what we ride, we can talk about the XS all we want and enjoy its essence.

Motoman, you bringing the old school ST to show us how to go around a corner?

Yes, a few times. It's like a canyon-carving, laser scalpel. Especially with a fresh set of tires.

BUT, during the '09 Co. trip, I had a front row seat, watching Bigelo hang side by side on his old Maxim with Cody on his '08 C14! Tod was making that old bike do things Yamaha never imagined when they designed it! Cody said there were times when he would be making his state of the art techno bike do amazing things on those mountain roads, look over...and there was Tod...right in the pocket with him...and he could literaly see smoke coming off his rear tires as they hung in the corners at triple digit speeds! It was crazy!
Those of us who have experienced riding with both those fellas know they possess some mean skills...Cody's track certified.

Those were the crazy days....
Not planning on personally repeating them, of course... lol...

But, it showed me what a great rider that really is one with his machine is capable of, and that in the right hands, the XS11 is a VERY capable bike that can hang with new state of the art technology. Not too shabby!

[3Phase]

Yes!

Well, hope you can work your way back out that 'rabbit hole'......with bunny in hand.

That '79F has a pretty clean lookin' engine for over 100K miles; cylinder walls and piston tops are good with no rust, scoring or stutter marks that I could see. I don't know why it smokes but the oil rings probably packed it in. The head's been off before at least once because the head gasket isn't original. I haven't taken the head apart yet but the journals and cams look better than what I took off of Columbo. I want to change the valve stem seals and lap the valves but otherwise it looks like it's a straight drop-in that doesn't need any deep cleaning or paint.

I'll see what's happening tomorrow. Oh, and my new seat cover got here this afternoon from B and H Specialties in Texas so I'll have a new seat cover when I get done playing with the engine!

.

[XJOK2PLAY]

My '79 would smoke for about the first 10 minutes after first start up, then quit.
Valve seals cured it.

Hope you get it goin' in time.
Sux having to stop for oil every 500 miles on a 3000 mile trip... BTDT

Guess worse would be a leaker, though... Lol

[Bonz]

Scotty, you can resurrect a Phoenix from the ashes, I am confident!

XJOK, looking forward to meeting you, BA and Bohn. 'Preciate you guys making the trip across the plains to join us. 'Preciate you guys from Cali as well and getting to see you all. And then there's rdmcguy and CaptonZap who bear mentioning as additional creative and inspirational conspirators of cat herding.

[3Phase]

Bob,

I didn't see any smoke when I got the time to put a spare set of carburetors on it and fired it up a few weeks after getting it home but the P.O. said it had bad rings and smoked going up the freeway. <shrug> He bought a Road King and got rid of his XS11s and the parts.

Unfortunately the registration on the 'F was totally out of date and California's trying every trick it can dream up to get rid of older vehicles and all of their foul greenhouse gases so even if I managed to finagle a new title to plate and register it, Al Gore would show up at my house to pelt me with Delta Smelt and smash my XS into soup with Spotted Owls.

Bonz,

All this to fix an oil leak at the head gasket. <sigh>

.
.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Wow, Scott...sorry to hear all the trouble your having.

I can just imagine trying to get a 35 year old bike registered out there.
Oklahoma doesn't have a lot of things to love, but it's still pretty free here.

If you lived here, you wouldn't have to put up with that type of nonsense.
You can register all the XS's you're garage/backyard/budget can handle!

Sounds like rings may be the deal with your XS, then.

I moved to an apartment 6 years ago, after my divorce.
I have a spot on my small covered front porch just large enough to park one bike. I miss my 3 car garage tremendously!
So 2 years ago, I had several opportunities to start going on long trips with the gang. The '79 was ultra-low mileage and mint, and the XJ had started having some electrical gremlins, carb issues...etc. I had followed around with Cody on his C14 for a while, and "Bullet" had proved to be "bulletproof".
So, that's why I decided to go the way I did. (FI is a wonderful thing!)

I love the XS, and always will. They're great.
I just decided to go to a new bike for the dependability, comfort, warranty, fuel mileage and range, (mine gets around 50 mpg and has a 6 gal. tank,) etc.

So far, I've put 18k miles on it, and -0- problemos...just miles of smiles.

If I had a garage, and the ability to have more than 1 bike and keep it nice, I would definitely have XS's in the stable. Maybe one day...

But trying to keep one out in the open, in an apartment complex is a losing battle. As hard as I tried to keep mine covered and in shape, it was starting to show signs of corrosion in the electrical connections. When that happens, it becomes a nightmare, and dependability vanishes.

Kawasaki's wiring connectors, etc, on the C14 are very watertight.
Plus, it came with a 3 year warranty, and for $350 it can be renewed another 3 years. And for another $350, it can be renewed yet again, for a total of 9 years of warranty! Not bad.

But, I will always love the XS, with passion.
It also was the bike that got me back in the saddle again, after 20 years of not riding. Plus, had it not been for the XS, I wouldn't have known all you guys!

Hope to get to meet ya and ride with you, Scott. I figure you and I have a lot in common, especially about work. Hang in there, and hope you get it going.
Bob